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alias_sqbrI'm watching the BBC adaptation of Elizabeth's Gaskell's Cranford series. I get the feeling that even at the time it was designed to be fluffy and nostalgic (plus the the odd bit of victorian melodramatic angst, of course). Cranford is a staid little town in the north of England in the 1840s, and the story meanders through the lives of a bazillion characters. I like the way it includes both upper and lower classes, and gives the lower classes more agency and nuance than, say, Downton Abbey, as well as deliberately highlighting the damage caused by conservatism and the morality of the time while simultaneously celebrating the town's old fashioned charm, and then looking at how both are affected by the Industrial Revolution.
And SO MANY FEMALE CHARACTERS. It's wall to wall widows and spinsters and young women hoping for husbands, with all sorts of complicated relationships between them. I am reminded of Lancre, the strongminded uptight but secretly soft hearted old spinster Miss Deborah reminds me rather of Granny Weatherwax, in general the light hearted English tone, large cast, and subtle progressive social commentary reminds me a little of Pratchett.
There's the expected romantic shenanigans which are interesting enough but oh god my heart belongs to Harry, the tiny adorable working class boy from a large, generally despised family who loves books and just wants to look after his family, I hope he ends up alright ;_;
(Also Simon Woods is moderately cute as the new young doctor, much cuter than he was as Bingley in P&P, and he spends a lot of time in his shirtsleeves)
And SO MANY FEMALE CHARACTERS. It's wall to wall widows and spinsters and young women hoping for husbands, with all sorts of complicated relationships between them. I am reminded of Lancre, the strongminded uptight but secretly soft hearted old spinster Miss Deborah reminds me rather of Granny Weatherwax, in general the light hearted English tone, large cast, and subtle progressive social commentary reminds me a little of Pratchett.
There's the expected romantic shenanigans which are interesting enough but oh god my heart belongs to Harry, the tiny adorable working class boy from a large, generally despised family who loves books and just wants to look after his family, I hope he ends up alright ;_;
(Also Simon Woods is moderately cute as the new young doctor, much cuter than he was as Bingley in P&P, and he spends a lot of time in his shirtsleeves)
